Funding threat to $10bn HSBC insurance sale January 8, 2013 THE SALE of HSBC’s stake in a major Chinese insurer could be at risk of collapsing, it emerged yesterday, as the bank funding the purchaser could pull out of the deal. Thai conglomerate Charoen Pophand (CP) Group is part way through acquiring HSBC’s 15.6 per cent stake in Chinese insurer Ping An for $9.4bn (£5.96bn). [...]
African Barrick Gold plunges as talks finish January 8, 2013 SHARES in London-listed miner African Barrick Gold (ABG) plummeted more than 20 per cent yesterday, as its Canadian parent Barrick Gold said it was no longer in talks to sell the unit to a national Chinese gold company. The talks with China Gold regarding the London-listed gold producer, which is 74 per cent-owned by its [...]
It makes no sense for Voda to give up its US ambitions January 8, 2013 NO wonder investors cheered Verizon Communications’ boss Lowell McAdam’s claim yesterday that he’d be up for buying out Vodafone’s stake in America’s Verizon Wireless. Analysts are valuing the 45 per cent stake at around £50bn, and having waited years to take a dividend from the US tie-up shareholders will no doubt be hoping they can [...]
Chipmaker battles hot up at Vegas consumer show January 8, 2013 FASTER and more powerful mobile phone technology became the focus of Las Vegas’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) yesterday, as microchip makers battled to show off the designs they hope will be used in the next generation of smartphones. Two US processor manufacturers – Qualcomm and Intel – have both unveiled their latest mobile microchips, in [...]
Best of the Brokers January 8, 2013 TUI TRAVEL Morgan Stanley yesterday downgraded the travel company from “equal weight” to “underweight” with a target price of 250p, expecting seasonal losses to be higher due to an accounting change and poor cash flow. However, the analyst still sees Tui Travel as a “well-managed business, with strong market shares in European tour operating” that [...]
FTSE 100 edges up as Anglo American names new chief executive January 8, 2013 Markets made a hesitant start to the day, and the FTSE 100 edged up slightly in early trading. News that Mark Cutifani has been appointed to the top job at global miner Anglo American stole the headlines this morning. He starts the role on 3 April and takes over from current head Cynthia Carroll. As [...]
TV makers battle for survival in Las Vegas January 7, 2013 THE WORLD’S biggest TV manufacturers yesterday staked their claims for dominance of the next generation of sets, unveiling a host of super-detailed and internet-connected sets they hope will revitalise a struggling market. Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and LG all used yesterday’s curtain-raiser to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to debut bigger and brighter [...]
Newer models aid Jaguar Land Rover UK sales January 7, 2013 JAGUAR Land Rover has enjoyed a record year for UK car sales and is gearing up for new launches in 2013. The firm yesterday said UK sales rose 19.7 per cent to 68,586 vehicles last year. The Land Rover brand posted its best-ever year in the UK, selling 54,480 vehicles, up 25 per cent on [...]
Markets fly but hangover feared January 2, 2013 MARKETS around the world rallied yesterday after the US agreed an eleventh-hour deal to limit fiscal cliff tax increases and spending cuts, giving equities a much needed boost. The deal averted sharp rises in income-tax for a majority of Americans, but failed to reach any conclusion over cutting the budget deficit, leading analysts to warn the [...]
German Dax rally outpaces FTSE in 2012 January 1, 2013 GERMAN blue chip companies roared ahead of their UK counterparts in 2012 after the Dax market index posted an increase almost five times the rise of the FTSE 100. The German list of premier companies reported its biggest jump in almost a decade in 2012, up 29 per cent, despite continued bartering over the Greek [...]